HP MSA P2000 G3 Quick Notes

In case you haven’t heard, HP has released an updated storage controller for the modular storage array (MSA) series. One of the products updated was the MSA 2000 series. This included the MSA 2300 for fibre channel and iSCSI connectivity.

The Generation 3 (G3) of the 2000 series products changes it’s name slightly to MSA P2000 G3. Last week, when I was at HP StorageWorks Tech Day we had a chance to go over some of the details of this updated device.

Here are some of the features I liked about the MSA P2000 G3 device:

Dual-personality controllers. This is a sweet spot for me. In my personal and professional technology practices, I’m re-assessing the need for fibre channel. I’m developing a preference for iSCSI as the storage protocol when appropriate. The P2000 allows selected controllers to run both fibre channel and iSCSI storage protocols. The AW568A (small form factor drives) and AW567A (large form factor drives) versions both have dual-personality. Further, the controllers can communicate simultaneously to both iSCSI and fibre channel clients.

Volume snapshots. Finally! Some features on this storage class. The MSA P2000 G3 allows up to 64 snapshots on the volumes on the array. Licensing can be added to up that number to 512 and provide snapshots to remote destinations.

Mix types: Like previous MSA 2xxx series, you can mix drive sizes and types to an extent within the same drive shelf. Each port can accept either SAS or SATA disks in the same enclosure. This can be helpful to create storage tiers without the pressure to ‘buy up’ for the entire inventory.

RAID levels: 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 10 and 50

The iSCSI connectivity is two Gigabit Ethernet ports per controller, and most installations will use two controllers. I’ve reached out to HP to obtain a loaner unit, and plan on doing some configuration testing and will report the results here or on one of the commercial blogs.